


'cause I'm up in the sky now and the stars haven't ever seemed this close

by echoes_of_realities



Series: if I get old, old fashioned, would you get old, old fashioned with me? [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, and Robin being ridiculously nervous for no reason, literally just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-16 19:45:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14817735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/echoes_of_realities/pseuds/echoes_of_realities
Summary: Robin’s dated before. She knows all the right things to say and when to lean in for the kiss and when to never call them back. Robin knows how dating works, which isn’t the problem. The problem is that Robin is going on a date withAlice. Not that Alice is a problem, far from it. Alice is perfect, which is in of itself a problem, as is the fact that she is nervous because this is anofficialdate, and therefore their first one.Alice, on the other hand, has never dated before. But even so, she’s not the least bit nervous for her first official date with Robin tonight (at least, she doesn’t think she is; she has those butterflies fluttering around in her stomach but they mostly feel warm and pleasantly tingly, so). For Alice, this date isn’t the first one, they’ve been dating for months now even though they’ve never said it, and she’s pretty confident of that fact. So confident, in fact, that she’s not nervous for the date (mostly, she doesn’t think).





	'cause I'm up in the sky now and the stars haven't ever seemed this close

**Author's Note:**

> It's pride month y'all and I'm so happy these two adorable beans are canonically getting married.
> 
> This could technically fit in with  _if I get old, old fashioned, would you get old, old fashioned with me?_  but I don't intend to write a Tilly/Margot part so it's on its own right now.
> 
> Title from “Messengers” by Jared and the Mill.
> 
> Edit: I've added this to _if I get old, old fashioned, would you get old, old fashioned with me?_ because I felt like it fit within that universe better, so there _could_ be a second chapter coming but I don't really have any ideas for it.

Robin’s dated before. She’s been taken out on dates, and she’s planned dates, and she’s cancelled dates. She hasn’t dated a whole lot of people, granted, but she has been on enough of them to know her way around one pretty well. She knows all the right things to say and when to lean in for the kiss and when to never call them back. 

Robin knows how dating works, which isn’t the problem. The problem is that Robin is going on a date with _Alice_. Not that Alice is a _problem_ , far from it. Alice is perfect, which is in of itself a problem, because Robin isn’t worried about dating, she’s worried about going on a date with Alice, who is both the prettiest and sweetest girl she’s ever met in her life, and Robin is still half wondering why Alice seems to like _her_. She’s so nervous about the date that she’s been staring blankly into her closet for almost half an hour.

Which is ridiculous, because Robin first kissed Alice a couple months ago (and many more times in between, the thought of which always brings an involuntary blush to her cheeks), and Robin knows that Alice _really_ likes her, perhaps as much as Robin likes Alice; and she even has Nook’s ( _Killian’s_ , she reminds herself) blessing, if his none too subtle encouraging over the last few months have been anything to go by. Besides all that, thinking back on it, Robin’s pretty sure her and Alice have more or less been dating since even before they kissed for the very first time; they’ve brought each other flowers just because, given little gifts just to see the other smile, held hands while walking through villages, treated each other to dinner, walked each other home, and kissed each other goodnight (which is a newer, but no less amazing, development). All things considered, there should be absolutely no reason Robin should be nervous about taking Alice on a date because, even without acknowledging it, they’ve been on hundreds of them. But the problem is that she _is_ nervous, because this is the first time Robin’s asked Alice to go on an _official_ date, where they’re purposefully going somewhere instead of having lunch after a letter delivery or running into each other in town, and she feels just on the wrong side of nauseous to be quite honest.

It’s because tonight’s _the_ night, tonight is the night that Robin is going to tell Alice what she’s known all along. Which sounded great in the dark of Robin’s room the night before she asked Alice out on an official date a week ago (even though they’ve been more or less dating for a couple months already), but now Robin’s not so sure because the clock on her wall is ticking down the time until Robin needs to leave way too fast.

“Darling?”

Robin jumps and whips around to find her mother standing in the doorway, a small frown on her face. “What?” Robin snaps, defensive because her mom just scared the bejesus out of her ( _if only it would scare the nerves out of her_ , Robin thinks distractedly).

Zelena gives Robin a tight, almost worried smile. “I’ve been calling your name for a while, sweetheart, but you were busy staring a hole in your wall. I hope you know it’s not going to move no matter how long you glare at it.”

Robin shakes her head and sits down on her bed. “Sorry mom, I was just zoned out, I guess.”

Her mom slowly enters the room, much the way Robin slowly stalks an animal, as if a sudden movement would scare it away. Robin rolls her eyes but can’t really blame her mom. She knows she gets snappish when she’s nervous or worried, she’s known it since her first Christmas recital back in kindergarten when she practically snarled at her Aunt Regina for messing up on her braids the first time because she was so nervous about having been selected to introduce her class in front of everybody’s parents; Robin knows this about herself, but she also knows she can’t really help it. Her mom sits beside her and warily puts an arm around Robin, relaxing and half-hugging her tighter when Robin leans into her mom’s side instead of pushing her away.

“What’s really going on?” her mom asks. “You were so excited about your date this morning.”

Robin shrugs, it’s just like her mom to know exactly when something’s wrong without even know what it is. “I dunno,” she mumbles.

“Robin,” her mom says, “Come one, you know you can tell me anything. I won’t even tease you.” At Robin’s pointed look, she grins a little and reaches up to pinch Robin’s cheek, “ _Much_ ,” she amends.

Robin swats at her mom’s hand with a small laugh. “Mom,” she whines, rolling her eyes again when her mom just grins proudly. After a moment she sighs and groans. “I dunno, I guess I’m just nervous,” she admits quietly.

“Nervous?” her mom asks, surprise colouring her voice and face. “Why are you nervous? It’s _Alice_.”

_That’s exactly the problem_ , Robin thinks. She swallows thickly and debates with herself for a long moment, before deciding to tell her mom the truth; as embarrassing as her mom can be when it comes to teasing Robin, she also has an innate way of comforting her and . “I’m in love with her,” she says quietly.

Zelena’s eyes glisten with elated pride even as she tightens her hold on her daughter, pulling her into a bone crushing hug. “Well _duh_ ,” she says teasingly.

Robin laughs despite herself, allowing her mom to hold her tight enough that it’s kind of hard to breathe; but, she supposes, being in love with Alice a pretty great thing and deserves at least a little celebration. “I’m pretty obvious, aren’t I?”

“Darling, I doubt there’s anyone in this realm that doesn’t know you’re sickeningly in love with Alice,” her mom agrees, finally loosening her hold on Robin.

“Except Alice,” Robin mumbles.

“Huh?”

Robin sighs and extracts herself from her mom’s embrace to throw herself backwards onto her bed with a dramatic groan. “I haven’t told Alice yet,” she admits to the ceiling. Her mom slaps a hand to her mouth to try and control her giggles. “Hey,” Robin protests half-heartedly. She knew that this would be exactly what her mom’s response would be, but she can’t say she blames her. Robin kind of wants to laugh at herself for how absolutely hopeless she is when it comes to Alice.

“I’m sorry, Robin,” her mom soothes once her laughing fit has mostly subsided. She lays down beside Robin, propping herself up with an elbow so she can look her daughter in the eye. “It’s just kinda funny.”

“Sure, laugh it up,” Robin whines toothlessly, “My pain’s hilarious, I know.”

Her mom runs a calming hand through Robin’s hair. “Darling, you’ve been in love with Alice for almost as long as you’ve known her.”

“I know,” Robin groans, finally looking at her mom, “but it’s just so hard to tell her.”

“Why?” her mom prompts gently.

Robin shrugs half-heartedly. “I dunno. What if she doesn’t love me back?” The force of her mom’s laugh should really be insulting if Robin wasn’t wallowing so much. “Mom,” she complains, “I get it okay, you can stop laughing anytime.”

Zelena wipes at her eyes and rolls over to crush Robin in another hug. “Robin, I mean this in the nicest way possible, but that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Robin groans and struggles to get out from under her mom, going limp when she realizes it’s pointless. “What do you mean?” she finally asks with a deep sigh.

Her mom presses a kiss to her forehead, and Robin can feel the smile there. “You two are so smitten with each other, and somehow neither of you know,” her mom says, fondly exasperated.

“Huh?” Robin asks blankly.

Her mom pulls back with a wide grin. “I mean, you two are so obviously in love that the only people who can’t see it are you two.”

Robin tries to squash the hope that rises in her chest, ballooning within her and filling up all her crevices and corners. “Really?”

“Really, really,” her mom assures her, booping her on the nose. “You shouldn’t worry so much, darling. I’ve rarely seen two people so completely enamoured with each other than you and Alice.”

Robin swallows around a lump in her throat, her heart pounding. “Really?” she asks again, unable to keep the hope from her voice.

“Of course,” her mom promises. 

“Thanks, mom,” Robin says thickly. Coming from a woman who’s spent a fair amount of time with Snow White and Prince Charming themselves, and who’s experienced true love herself, Robin can’t even articulate how much that means.

Her mom laughs, just a little watery, as she stands up and grabs Robin’s hands to pull her up too. “Now, enough of that, we’ve got an outfit to pick out.”

 

* * *

 

Alice, on the other hand, has never dated before. But even so, she’s not the least bit nervous for her first _official_ date with Robin tonight (at least, she doesn’t think she is; she has those butterflies fluttering around in her stomach but they mostly feel warm and pleasantly tingly, so). She’s not even sure if she’s had a crush before; she knows when she finds girls pretty, but she doesn’t really think that counts; and besides that, Robin is the first person that has made Alice’s heart pound and her palms sweat and sent butterflies everywhere throughout her body. She asked her papa about it, in one of her letters months ago, and he said it sounds like she’s falling in love (which she could have told him too, she already knew that, even back then), and even through the ink on paper Alice could tell how happy her papa was for her. (Robin delivered all the letters for that conversation, as always, and Alice couldn’t help but blush when she received them from her, knowing what was in them.)

For Alice, this date isn’t the first one, they’ve been dating for months now even though they’ve never said it, and she’s pretty confident of that fact. So confident, in fact, that she’s not nervous for the date at all (mostly, she doesn’t think). And even if she’s a little nervous, she’s not at all worried about it because Robin is the prettiest and most charming person Alice has ever met, as well as the most interesting, so she’s mostly excited for the date (especially because meeting up with Robin generally means more kisses, and despite only having read about them before Robin, Alice finds that she rather enjoys them quite a bit).

Mr. Rabbit is not great company while getting ready for her date, Alice finds, which is mostly due to the fact that he offers no comments on what to wear. Alice supposes it’s probably a good thing she has about three and a half outfits, because if she had anymore she would probably be stuck trying to choose what to wear until Robin got there.

She ends up settling on her usual red skirt and leather bodice underneath her blue cloak because Robin once blushingly told her it brings out the colour of her eyes (Mr. Rabbit is still absolutely no help). The sun is already starting to dip behind the tree line, which means Robin will be here soon, but Alice finds that time can’t go fast enough. She tries to find something to occupy herself, but nothing really holds her attention for long.

She sits to continue her newest letter to her papa, but she only manages a sentence or two before she begins fiddling with her rainbow bracelet and staring blankly at her ink well. So she moves to her chess board and plays a couple moves, but finds that she can’t think of the moves ahead like she usually can. She goes to the canvas in the corner and debates mixing some colours for paint but decides against it, not wanting to be covered in paint splatters like usual for her date. She puts some water on to boil for washing a few dishes, but forgets about the water when she notices that the balls of yarn she left on the table are all tangled, so she unknots and tidies that up. Once she remembers the water, it’s too hot to wash with so she tries to make a couple more chess moves while it cools. She gets distracted and the water is just on the wrong side of lukewarm as she scrubs up the few dishes she owns but soon realizes her towels are still hanging up outside on the clothesline, so she heads out to grab a clean towel. But she wonders about the possibility of rain, so she decides to fold up the rest of her clothes and take them inside. She sets them on her bed to distribute to the dressers scattered around her cottage, the ones that double as coffee tables as well, but gets distracted by the fire burning too low. She glances at the window and is surprised to see it’s already dusk out, and a knock at her door startles her out of her thoughts.

Alice glances down and runs her hands over her skirt, realizing belatedly that she is, in fact, a little bit nervous. She crosses the cottage and opens the door, finding Robin on the other side, and Alice’s breath catches. “Robin,” she chirps, searching for her voice. Robin’s cloak is fastened by her collarbones, which are bare from the unbuttoned collar of her white work shirt, her usual hunting tunic replaced by just her usual wide belt sitting low on her hips, over her black leather pants, emphasizing her lithe figure. Her bow is strapped to her back against her quiver. Her hair is down and loosely curled, falling around her shoulders in gentle waves, but it’s her eyes, wide and bright, that gets Alice. In the dying sunlight, they look bright green, but Alice knows, from studying them so intensely since the day they first met, that all it takes is a change of light or mood for them to go blue and then grey. She looks so pretty that Alice isn’t sure if the butterflies in her stomach will ever stop fluttering.

“Alice,” Robin breathes, and to Alice’s relief, she seems to be just as breathless as Alice is. “You look,” Robin’s breath catches audibly, and Alice feels all the blood rush to her cheeks, “you look beautiful.”

Alice smiles shyly and ducks her head, only now noticing the small basket in Robin’s hands. She glances up at Robin with a question on her lips that dies as soon as she catches green eyes again, which are no less captivating when viewed from under Alice’s eyelashes. “So do you.” Alice watches the blush spread across Robin’s cheeks with wonder before she manages to shake herself out of her daze. “Let me just grab my cloak,” she murmurs.

Robin nods in acknowledgement, and Alice is turning to go back into her cottage for her cloak when Robin’s fingers on her wrist stop her. A gentle tug has her turning around and then Robin’s lips are on her cheek, lingering for a long moment before pulling back. “Hi,” Robin whispers.

Alice giggles, the butterflies in her stomach rattling her bones in a way that sends pleasant tingles shooting all the way to her toes. “Hi,” she whispers back. 

Robin half shrugs and offers Alice her slightly crooked grin, the one that’s just a little mischievous and just a little shy. “We should hurry, while there’s still a little light.”

Alice nods and grins back. “Then you should let go of my wrist so I can get my cloak on.”

Robin’s cheeks darken and she quickly releases Alice’s wrist. She looks so adorable that Alice can’t really help it when she surges towards Robin to kiss her. It’s mostly chaste and sweet, but it makes Alice’s heart pound throughout her body all the same; Robin’s kisses always make her feel warm and safe and more than a little bit breathless.

Alice can feel Robin’s smile as she pulls back, one that always makes Alice smile in turn. She hurries back into her cottage, making sure the fire is burning low enough to not be worrisome by pouring some of the dishwater over it. She fastens her cloak around her shoulders, forgoing the large blue bow in exchange for speed and blowing out the remaining candles in the cottage as she leaves. 

Robin’s waiting patiently at the door, and her eyes light up as Alice crosses the threshold and shuts the door firmly behind her.

“Shall we?” Robin asks, holding out her arm for Alice to take.

Alice smiles and loops her arm through Robin’s bouncing up on her tiptoes to press a quick kiss to Robin’s cheek. “We shall.”

 

* * *

 

“Well, here we are,” Robin says, extracting her arm from Alice’s so she can lend Alice her hand instead and help her over the last fallen tree at the edge of the forest. Alice doesn’t really need the help, but she thinks it’s sweet and Robin likes to feel chivalrous (her wide extended almost-family — read: Actual Prince Charming — taught her nothing if not how to be perfectly charming while courting a girl, even though sometimes Robin can’t believe most of the adults she grew up around still call dating _courting_ ).

“Where is here, exactly?” Alice asks.

Robin doesn’t answer, but instead leads Alice further into the grassy field. It’s filled with longer grass and wildflowers, giving it a pleasantly fresh scent; the edge of the field slopes down into a small creek that winds it’s way through rocks and grass. The sun’s already completely set, and the dark sky stretches above them, the stars bright and shining. The way that the ground slopes means that the field is fairly open, and the sky stretches above them endlessly, like the time Robin knocked over a bag of sugar on their black countertops back in Storybrooke when she was trying to make a cake for her mom’s birthday. Robin stumbled upon the place a couple weeks ago while out late hunting one night, which is what originally gave her the idea for their date. 

Alice gasps beside her, tightening her fingers on Robin’s. Robin turns to look at Alice, watching as the awe and wonder spread on her face. When she turns to Robin with starlight in her blue eyes, Robin’s breath catches. “It’s beautiful,” she says, glancing back at the sky.

“Yeah,” Robin agrees, not thinking about the sky at all.

“How’d you find this place?” Alice asks with a soft smile.

Robin tries to shake herself out of her thoughts about how pretty Alice is but only marginally succeeds. “I was stalking a deer a couple weeks ago and stumbled on it,” she explains, leading Alice towards a spot where the grass is thinner and shorter. She sets the basket down beside her and reluctantly lets go of Alice’s hand, bending down to pull the old blanket her mom lend her out. Alice grabs one end and together they spread it over the ground. “I figured it would be a good place for a picnic,” she continues as she kneels on the blanket. Alice sinks to the ground across from her, untying her cloak but leaving it around her shoulders.

Robin pulls her off bow and quiver and then her cloak, setting them to the side of the blanket before she reaches into the basket, intending to pull out the snacks she packed, but her fingers brush soft petals first and she mentally smacks herself. She intended to give the bouquet of flowers to Alice back at the cottage, so Alice could put them in water, but she had been so distracted by Alice’s beauty — and the thought of what she was going to tell Alice tonight — that she completely forgot about them.

Alice is sitting with her skirt arranged around her legs, to ward of the slight summer night chill in the air. She’s staring up at the sky, a small half-smile on her face, so Robin carefully pulls the flowers out and murmurs Alice’s name.

“Oh!” Alice says as she turns to Robin. She looks like she just took a bite of something sweet, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks under the starlight. 

“They’re daisies,” Robin says unnecessarily, “for you.”

“They’re beautiful,” Alice murmurs. She turns her starry eyes on Robin as she takes them and Robin’s heart takes a dive right out of her chest. “Thank you.”

Robin smiles and feels like her heart is too big to be contained in her chest. “You’re welcome,” she murmurs. Alice leans forward to press a soft kiss to Robin’s lips, lingering sweetly for a long moment before she pulls back. 

Robin swallows thickly at the small smile on Alice’s face. She reaches for the basket and fights the blush she feels rising on the back of her neck and the urge to blurt out a love declaration right now. Robin has a _plan_ for all this; there’s an order to this picnic that Robin refuses to disturb (least her nerves get the best of her and she makes a fool of herself, because Robin needs structure to function properly, especially for the Big Things in her life).

She pulls out the snacks she packed, setting them between Alice and her with a flourish, before reaching for the bottle of wine she snuck past her mom (even though she’s a couple years above the legal age back in Storybrooke, her mom still keeps an iron fist over the alcohol cabinet). It’s the sweet stuff, because Alice hates the taste of alcohol, and to be honest, Robin’s not too fond of it either (especially when she’s not trying to be cool and live up to both her parents reputations).

Alice grins wryly at the snacks. “Chocolate covered strawberries and wine?” she teases, “A little cliché, no?”

Robin blushes. “I knew I shouldn’t have listened to my mom,” she mumbles.

“No, no,” Alice giggles, “It’s cute.”

Robin pouts and Alice bites her lip for a moment before surging towards Robin and kissing her, quick and hard. Robin’s a little bit breathless when Alice pulls back, and she stares dazedly at Alice with what’s probably a dopey smile, until Alice’s giggle snaps her out of it.

Robin offers Alice a chocolate strawberry and Alice takes it, biting into it with with a distracting moan. “Ith goo’,” she says around a mouthful. Robin’s mouth dries and her body tingles and warmth pools low in her stomach. Alice swallows and offers Robin the strawberry, “Try it.”

Robin, needing to even the playing field, leans forward and takes the rest of the strawberry, her lips brushing the tips of Alice’s fingers as she bites it. Alice looks shocked and flushed, bright and awed. Robin grins at Alice and reaches for another strawberry, holding it out towards her head, and Alice blushes bright but smiles and takes a bite of the strawberry. They spend a while just feeding each other strawberries and giggling and stealing sweet kisses between sips of wine, trying to do it all while holding hands.

“This is nice,” Alice says after awhile. “Different from what we usually do, but really nice.”

“Well it is our first date,” Robin says.

“Huh?” Alice deadpans.

“First date,” Robin repeats, a small frown marring her brows, “It’s our first one.”

Alice giggles. “Nobin,” she teases fondly, “we’ve been on hundreds of dates.”

“Not _official_ ones.”

“What do you need to consider it _official_?”

Robin shrugs. “I dunno. Romantic lighting. Flowers. A kiss goodnight.”

Alice giggles again. “I’m pretty sure we’ve done all that before.”

“But—” Robin protests. “I mean, _yeah_ , but we never called it a date before.”

Alice shrugs this time. “ ‘A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.’ ”

“ _Romeo and Juliet_? A little depressing for a _first_ date.”

Alice giggles and tugs affectionately on their tangled hands. “I did a _lot_ of reading while stuck in that tower, you have no clue how many quotes are stuck up here,” she says, gesturing vaguely to her head and making Robin chuckle. “And besides, I think _Romeo and Juliet_ are fine for what’s probably, like, a fortieth date.”

“Ugh, _fine_ ,” Robin whines, though it’s hard to tell through her laughter. She leans over to press a kiss to Alice’s cheek. “You win, Tower Girl.”

Alice pumps a fist in the air, something she picked up from spending so much time with Robin and Henry. “What do I win?”

“Hmm,” Robin hums, pretending to think, “A kiss?”

“Oooh, my favourite,” Alice says, barely getting the sentence out before Robin’s lips are on hers.

They spend the rest of the night feeding each other the rest of the strawberries and giggling and trading chocolatey-sweet kisses. Robin takes some of the daisies from the bouquet and teaches Alice how to make a flower crown, something Snow taught her when she was in grade four. She weaves the flower stems together, braiding new flowers in with Alice watching closely, her cheek against Robin’s shoulder. Alice takes over about halfway through, her fingers clumsily fumbling. The crown ends up a little lopsided, but Alice asks Robin to put it on, both shy and proud. Robin carefully sets the daisy crown amongst Alice’s blonde curls, smoothing stray petals and strands of hair away from Alice’s face and leaning forward to press a kiss to her forehead around a soft smile. Alice giggles and catches one of Robin’s hands before she pulls away, pressing a long kiss to her palm before tangling their fingers together. They lay back on the blanket, Alice’s head pressed against Robin’s shoulder, their hands and legs twined together. Alice points out the constellations above them, teaching Robin, as her papa did for her, how to navigate using the bright specks of light, millions of miles away.

Robin points out the same constellations from her realm, the Greek myths and Indigenous stories and, later, the horoscopes behind each collection of stars that she knows. They spend the night comparing the speckling of stars between the two realms, and all of the other differences; the things Robin misses, the things she gained, the things she wouldn’t give up for anything no matter how nice indoor plumbing is (it’s the _one_ important thing, the one thing that Robin kinda thought she’d never get a chance at until she caught a pretty girl in a trap). 

Robin’s sure it’s late by the time they fall into a comfortable silence, cuddled together under their cloaks when the wind picked up a little. Alice breathes steadily against her, warm and solid. Robin yawns, grinning when Alice’s giggle reaches her ears; she’s not really tired, just sleepy and comfortable and content, warmth pooling in her stomach when Alice tightens an arm around her torso, pulling them impossibly closer. Robin melts into the embrace, wishing for the moment to last forever, even though she knows they should probably head back to Alice’s cottage soon.

“Alice?” Robin murmurs, intending to walk Alice home. Alice turns to look at her, propping herself up on an elbow so she can see Robin’s face, and Robin’s breath catches and all of her intentions melt away. Alice’s hair is nearly silver under the daisies and the moonlight, her eyes bright and guileless, the stars spread above them reflecting deep within the ocean blue. There’s a curious smile on her face, the crease in her cheek hides the triangle of freckles Robin knows she would give anything to kiss one more time. Alice is glowing under the night sky, her hand in Robin’s and something besides starlight sparkling deeply in her eyes, and Robin knows, more sure than she’s ever been, that she would give anything to remain in this moment forever. “I love you,” she blurts without thinking.

Time stretches and Robin can almost feel it grinding to a halt as she realizes what she just said. It’s true, of course, but Robin had a _plan,_ the love declaration was supposed to come after she walked Alice home and maybe got a goodnight kiss. There was an order to this picnic, and now Robin’s gone and messed it all up; but there’s something about Alice that makes her just a little bit reckless and throw most of her plans out the window.

Alice’s smile droops in shock for a split second before it spreads again, so wide and bright and beautiful that Robin’s heart stutters in her chest, butterflies fluttering against her ribcage in a way that sends tingles all throughout Robin’s body. Alice’s cheeks scrunch up under her eyes and she surges towards Robin so fast that Robin barely has time to catch the body now sprawled across hers, and then Alice’s warm lips are on hers.

The kiss is a little sloppy, with Alice hitting the corner of her mouth and chin first, before she manages to hit Robin’s mouth. Alice’s lips are as warm and pliant as they always are, soft and sweet, but with a promise that Robin actually understands for the first time. Robin gasps into the kiss as Alice cups her face, keeping her in place as if Robin would ever want to move away. Robin’s hands are trembling as they rest on Alice’s hips, and she feels too full and too light all at once. Warmth pools in her stomach as Alice lets out a breathy laugh against her mouth, peppering quick, short kisses all all around her lips as Alice tries to kiss her around a wide smile.

Robin is more than a little dazed when Alice finally pulls back, staring dreamily up at Alice silhouetted against the stars above them, her eyes shining brilliantly down at Robin. “I love you too,” Alice breathes, her voice bright and carefree and just a little bit watery. “I love you,” she repeats and presses another kiss to Robin’s mouth, “I love you, I love you, I love you.”

Robin’s smile makes it hard for Alice to kiss her properly, their noses brushing together and their breaths little more than airy gasps of laughter. Alice pulls back, her hands on either side of Robin’s head to prop her up enough to look into Robin’s eyes, and a soft smile spreads across her face. Robin reaches up to cup Alice’s face, her thumbs brushing across the soft skin under blue eyes, wiping away the dampness that has collected there. “I love you,” Robin says again, and Alice’s smile widens. “I’m in love with you, Alice Jones.”

Alice leans down a little to nudge her nose against Robin’s, pressing their foreheads together. “And I’m in love with you too, Robin Mills,” she murmurs.

Robin laughs a little and wraps her arms around Alice tightly, pulling her down to kiss her again. Alice is warm and soft and solid against her, their legs tangled hopelessly together, chests pressed so close Robin swears she can feel the phantom pounding of Alice’s heartbeat echoed against hers. Alice smells like lavender and cinnamon and home, and she tastes of strawberries and chocolate and forever.

For the life of her, Robin can’t remember what she was so nervous about earlier, all that’s on her mind is the way Alice’s accent sounds as it lilts over the three most perfect words in the world; and all she can feel is Alice’s soft lips on her and all she can hear is Alice’s airy little gasps and all she can taste is Alice and home and forever. All she knows right now, under the bright starlight, is that Alice loves her.

 


End file.
